Beware, Banking Virus has been Detected

Cyber security experts have spotted a "black" private data stealing virus in Indian online banking cyber space and have cautioned customers who swipe debit or credit cards to make payments at shopping outlets.

After the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) made it mandatory for debit card holders to punch their PIN at the time of purchase in December 2013, the "severely" thinning out virus of the Trojan family has been discovered conducting its covert operations at the POS (Point of Sale) counters positioned at retail terminals.

The virus known as "Dexter, black POS, memory dump and grabber" can acquire seven aliases while tainting a system and once it accomplishes breaking the security protocols of a POS terminal, it embezzles confidential information like name & account number of the account holder, expiry date & CVV code of the card and other discretionary data which could lead to hijacking and phishing campaigns on the card monetarily in future.

It has been noted that malware operations targeting processing of payment card, point-of-sale (POS) and check out systems or equipment are rising.

CERT-India or Computer Emergency Response Team (India), issued an advisory to the general public saying that the common contamination vectors for POS system malwares comprises phishing emails or weak testimonials, unlawful access, open wireless networks together with the methods of installing malware as a constituent of service.

The CERT-In is the nodal department to protect Indian cyber space and infrastructure for software base against any vicious and hacking actions.

The malware is so intoxicating and deadly that once it pilfers the sensitive data, it quietly leaves the infected machine without leaving behind any trace of its being.

The advisory said that the malware has routines to collect and parse personal sensitive data from the running processes of POS and it has the process to exfiltrate straightforwardly without intervening stockpiling in the hard disk.

RBI had made it obligatory to punch PIN of the patrons at the POS in order to save debit cards from financial frauds and loss of hard-earned capital of the holder.